The present invention relates generally to fluid sensors, and in particular to an optically interfaced fuel characteristic sensor assembly.
In fluid systems such as those on aircraft, for example, it is desirable to accurately determine properties related to the fluid, such as fluid height, fluid dielectric, fluid temperature and fluid conductivity. Increasingly stringent safety standards are required of these devices due to the inherently volatile environment and thus, the amount of energy permitted within a fuel tank, for example, is limited. Prior art fluid sensors included electrical interfaces connected to traditional copper wires. These electrical interfaces necessitated additional safety features in the design and implementation of the sensors to ensure that no arcing occurred and that other electrical energy within the fuel tank was limited. Therefore, it is desirable to eliminate the electrical interfaces from sensor assemblies while maintaining the same connectivity to external systems.